Helped launch Showtime Networks first website. From there to NBC’s Internet division and ran NBC.com, launching some of the first TV to Web experiences. In 2003, helped launch InsiderPages which was acquired by CitySearch in 2006. Since then, helping clients big and small with this strange thing called “SEO”.

The Google Maps info inserted in business name search results seem to have fewer pixels to get to the non-Google content in the results. The Google Maps info in business name results are about 189 pixels high. The Google Maps info in business service in city results (the “10pack”) are about 247 pixels high. See the images below:

Business Name Result:

Service in City Result:

It has also been my experience that the “service in city” queries tend to result in more ads, particularly at the top of the search results, as these are more easy to target for advertisers. This means even more competition for clicks from these pages.

Now the flipside is that you will need to rank for a whole lot of business names to equal the traffic of one “service in city” query. I guess that’s what makes local search engine optimization fun right?

Not sure what you are referring to Richard but most local search players I speak with target a number of different keyword types. For these sites queries for services and business names are the top types of searches that drive traffic and make the customers happy.